


The Disappearing Girls

by Willow (WillowLindsayFics)



Category: Batwoman (TV 2019), DC Extended Universe
Genre: Cult, Gen, Gotham, POV Alternating, POV Third Person, Secret Society, alice is awesome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:58:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24400933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WillowLindsayFics/pseuds/Willow
Summary: Kate Kane was trying her best to leave Alice behind. When a mysterious phone call leads her to a camera with a video of Beth, Kate can't stay away.  She soon finds herself slipping down a deep hole into a cult hiding in the outskirts of  Gotham.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13





	1. A Phone Call and a Camera

Kate Kane sat at the reception desk for the Crows. She stared at the picture of her and her sister, Beth, framed and shoved in the corner.

The phone rang. "Crows Security, how may I—"

"There's a camera," a trembling voice whispered. "Check the shelves for lost items, April 19th, 2008. Some poor girl's been kidnapped and locked in a cellar." There was a small gasp.

"Can you tell me more?" Kate asked.

"I have to go." The voice sounded panicked. "The camera should be there—" The line went blank.

"Hello?" Kate asked, but there was no reply.

She went over to the desk a few feet away and asked the man there to trace the call she'd just received. Then she made her way down to the storage room. She wrote her name on the sheet on the wall, then took a glance at the directory. 2008 was quite a ways away. She jogged down the aisles until she found the section.

"April, April," she muttered, scanning the shelves. She saw a box marked April 19th. She pulled out a red sweater, then rummaged around a bit before stumbling upon a camera. She recognized the model as a Sony Cybershot 2.0, a model someone might have proudly shown off to everyone when she was in high school.

She clicked the power button. Nothing. She opened the battery slot. The batteries were corroded. _Great_ , she thought, going back to the elevator. Now she had to track down some new ones

"Kate," a man said as she exited the elevator. "I tracked that call you asked about, it's coming from a payphone just outside of Gotham."

"I guess that's not very helpful," Kate said.

"It's near a sub-district where a bunch of religious people live, without technology mostly," he continued. "We get calls from it all the time, but we can never find out who made the call. I don't recommend following through, it might just make whatever is going on worse."

"I don't think it was someone from there," she said. "The person tipped me off about this camera." She held it out to him.

"What's on it?"

"I'm not sure, do you have any double-A batteries?"

He nodded and she followed him to his desk. He rummaged through some drawers and handed them to her. "You know," he said as he passed them to her, "Your dad's glad you're taking an interest. Keep up the good work."

"Thanks," she mumbled. She just wanted to forget. Forget everything.

She took the old batteries out of the camera. There did not seem to be any damage to it. She plopped the new ones in. Kate turned the dial to view the pictures. They were a bit hard to make out, but the first one seemed to be a pair of hands. They were red and blistering as if they'd been burnt. The second picture shocked her. It was Beth, with a bruised eye and a cut on her cheek that was swelling, maybe infected. Her eyes were red and swollen. She pushed the button and a video appeared. She clicked play.

Beth was looking around, scared, from behind glass.

"Quiet, they'll hear you," she said.

"Just quickly, say something only you would know," another voice said, this one young and female. "That way they can't say I faked the images. They'll have to believe me this time."

"I'm, I'm Beth Kane," she said trembling. "And my mom gave me this necklace on my thirteenth birthday and I'm not dead..." She trailed off.

"Don't worry Beth—" She was cut off by a coughing fit. "I'll get this to the station and then they'll come and get you out." She sounded out of breath.

Beth placed her hand on the glass and the camera operator did the same.

"ALICE!" came a cry from somewhere inside.

"Go!" Beth said, waving her hands. The video cut out as the operator scrambled to get up and away.

Kate was holding her breath. This had been here, all these years? And no one had said anything until now?

She went over to her desk and started pulling up the security files from April 2008. She found the files for the 19th and began to fast forward through them. A few people came in during the morning, but none of them had a camera. The afternoon was uneventful. She was a few hours into the night shift when suddenly a frantic woman ran into the station. There was no sound on the tapes, but she was hysterical and waving her arms towards the parking lot. Everyone in the station ran out. A few seconds later, paramedics followed with a stretcher. The woman sat down on a chair while a female officer gave her a shock blanket. Kane examined it frame-by-frame. Neither of them seemed to have a camera.

 _How did it end up here?_ Kate wondered.

Her colleague from before came up to her. "Shift's over." Was it? She hadn't noticed. "Was there anything special on the camera?"

"That's what I'm investigating," she muttered, brushing him off. She put the camera into her bag and walked to her locker where she got her jacket and helmet, then went out the back door to the employee parking where her motorbike was.

She decided to take the longer, scenic route. She needed to clear her head, but the images of her sister's bruised face and burnt hands were seared into her mind. Gentle little Beth—she would have cried if she'd killed a fly. Kate wasn't paying attention to where she was going. If anyone knew anything about the camera, it would have to be Alice. Was it a good idea? Alice was not stable, there's no telling what she might do to whoever had filmed the video or what she might have already done.

She barely registered where she was when she parked in the Arkham visitor's parking lot and walked over the security gate. She demanded to talk to Alice, citing a police investigation. The hands. The blistering hands. Someone had tried to help Beth. How come they had never called, done anything? were they even going to help at all? If she wanted answers, she needed a name. Alice might have a name.


	2. An Interview With Alice

Alice was sitting with her arms crossed, or as well as she could cross her arms with the handcuffs. For once, she wasn't saying anything. She just glared at Kate.

Kate slowly took a seat across from Alice. The woman had bags under her eyes and her cheeks were hollow. It sent Kate back to the haunting memory of the photograph.

"I'm here to ask you some questions," Kate started. She pulled out her bag and placed it on the table, then pulled the camera out. "Do you recognize this?"

Alice gave her a blank look.

"I found it in some old lost-and-found box," she continued.

"And I'm supposed to know about it?" Alice retorted. She leaned back in her chair. "And here I thought you wanted some quality family time. You're such a disappointment."

"Stop with the theatrics."

"Oh!" She mocked surprise. "Is this serious?"

"I thought you would care more," Kate said.

"You're always thinking the wrong things, Kate. I thought we established that."

"This morning, I got a call from someone telling me to look in the lost-and-found and evidence sections for a camera from April 19th, 2008. What surprised me the most was—"

"The fact that the batteries still worked?"

"No." Kate took a breath. She wanted to break this, calmly, gently, to not start a fuss "The fact that there are pictures of you on it."

"Me?" Alice asked in her usual tone, but the maniacal spark she had was gone.

"Yes. Who took the pictures, Alice?"

Alice reached out for the camera but Kate snatched it from her. "What can I possibly do with this?" she exclaimed. "Come on Kate."

Kate gave her the camera. She watched Alice's expression fall as she turned it on and looked at the pictures, then played the video.

"I can't help you," Alice said.

"Why not?"

"She's dead."

"Who?"

"The girl who took the videos. Try to keep up. She's dead. As far as I knew we were the only ones who knew that camera existed."

"So, what, you killed her for not going to the police and helping you?"

Alice flinched.

"No," she said solemnly. "She was already dying. She looked like a ghost that night, I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd fallen over right in front of me." Her eyes grew glassy as she stared at the camera, turning it around in her hands. "Saw a headline in the newspaper a few weeks later that she'd died in the police parking lot. Her lungs just gave out or something. Nothing about a camera or a kidnapping. I had no idea what happened to it."

"So you're saying someone knew where you were and didn't tell anyone?" Kate said. She wasn't buying it.

Suddenly, the Alice she knew was back. She sprung up faster than she had melted away. "She did tell people. She called your place, but Dad's new wifey just told her to stop playing games and hung up. The police department wanted proof." Alice leaned closer to Kate. "She tried harder than you did."

"That's not fair," Kate said, but she knew that it was. She should have known Beth was on the other side of the wall. After a moment she said, "Who owned the camera?"

"Does it matter now? She's dead, I'm here, you're there. We're still alive. Well, mostly."

"I still don't get why she didn't call the police or tell her parents."

"Are you trying to get me to admit to murder or something, Kate? Because I did not do anything. Her parents ran some sort of religious circle. Never took her seriously. They didn't have phones, so she called using a payphone after work, always at the same time every day when Catherine was home and no one else. Eventually, she just gave up. Unlike you, she didn't give up on me. Spent her money on the stupid camera because now she had proof that, at the very least, there was child abuse."

"But who called it in? Why was it sitting there this entire time and no one looked at it?"

"I don't know, Kate!" She slammed her hands down on the table and stood up. "Maybe, no one thought it was important, maybe they were waiting for her parents to come pick it up. Maybe someone just found it and dropped it in a box and never told anyone. Maybe—"

"Alright, I get it," Kate cut her off. "What's her name, Alice?" she said firmly.

"It was Clementine. Clementine Ghemawat." Alice sat back down in her chair. "She was going to be famous someday," she continued as Kate typed the name in her phone.

"Nothing is coming up," Kate told her.

"You typed it in wrong." Alice reached for her phone, but her handcuffs did not allow her the distance. "What?" she asked. "Scared I'll call one of my dead rabbits?"

Kate begrudgingly gave her the device and watched closely as Alice typed in the name. Articles started to pop up. Kate saw Alice's lips quiver as she clicked on a picture of a preteen in a sparkly purple performance dress with roller skates on her feet. It was old and blurry. Alice blinked, then scrolled down more and clicked on a title.

"See, she died. I had nothing to do with it."

Kate took the phone. There was a picture of a girl laying on the ground near a parking lot. Everything looked fine, except she had a large bag in which there must have been an oxygen tank as the faint outlines of an oxygen tube were visible. She read through the article. Gotham lost their star athlete, Rollerblade Junior World Champion due to health complications. She had a surgery when she was 7 and was fully recovered, as far as anyone could tell, but a few months before her death, her parents and coach claimed that she'd been getting worse. The only question was, why was she so far out? Her parents answered that she had friends out there whom she would often visit.

Kate continued reading. There was no mention of a girl locked in a cellar. They even had a statement from a girl who claimed she was a friend. She had been Clementine's hospital buddy. However, she did say that she had no idea her friend was coming over and it made no sense that she hadn't told her in advance.

"See," Alice said. "I think you owe me an apology."

Kate rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry Alice."

"Thank you. That wasn't so hard."

"Don't push your luck," warned Kate. "And this doesn't answer my question. How did someone know to call?"

"Maybe you shouldn't be asking me," Alice said. "Maybe you should ask Daddy dearest where this came from—who found it and brought it in. I mean, it's been in police possession this entire time, right?"

Kate furrowed her brow.

"Right, Kate?"

Had it been?

"Well, it's none of my business. I'll be here, whenever you want to talk." Alice started calling for the guard.

Kate got up and stopped him. "We're not done yet," she told the guard. He nodded and walked back out the door. She turned back to Alice who was looking exasperated.

"Look," Kate said. "Something's not adding up and I want to figure out what it is."

"I can't. Help. You. Kate," Alice said. "Not while I'm locked up here anyways."

"You know more than what you are saying."

"Alright, but I want something in return."

Kate snorted.

"I'm serious. You want my help? Buy it."

"Alright, what do you want?"

"I want to see Clementine skate."

"What, wait, that's it?" Kate was taken aback.

"There's not much else I can get," Alice said solemnly. "It's not like you're going to let me out anytime soon. And besides, maybe we'll learn something."

Kate got her phone out again and went to YouTube. She typed in Clementine's name into the search bar and prayed there was actually something there. The first video that popped up was a clip entitled "2007 JRW Classic Slalom 1st Clementine Ghemawat (14yrs!!!)". She clicked on the video then handed her phone to Alice. She watched her sister's face as she played the video. Something she hadn't seen in a long time appeared on her face. She could almost see Beth again as Alice watched Clementine.

"She was really good," Alice said finally, handing the phone back to Kate. "She never stopped talking about how she could get out of Gotham and get a full college scholarship." Alice sounded almost sad. "I'll tell you everything."

Kate sat back down. 


	3. Clementine

It was the first time in over a year Alice had been allowed outside the house. She was not going to run away. She had nowhere to go and she would never make it home before her new father made it there, and killed everyone. Kate and Father and her new wife and daughter. He would kill them all if she left. So she stayed.

She was going through the woods, still in earshot, looking for firewood when she nearly collided into someone.

"Sorry!" a girl said frantically, pulling her up. She followed it with a small coughing fit. 

"Quiet," Alice said, looking around. If he'd heard if he knew she was talking to someone...

"Why, what's wrong?" the stranger looked into Alice's eyes with concern and disappointment. Alice stared back into her blue eyes. "Isn't this the safe house?" she whispered. "I'm... I'm looking for the safe house." She muttered something that might have been Latin.

Alice shook her head.

"Then where am I?" the blonde forest girl asked.

"My place," Alice said quietly. "You have to go, he can't find you here. He'll-" She started pushing the stranger away, looking frantically over her shoulder.

"Who can't find me here? What's wrong, are you okay?" The girl grabbed Alice and stared at her with a fixated yet calm gaze. "If you're in trouble, come with me, we can get help."

Alice shook her head. "I can't leave, he'll..." she didn't want to finish the sentence.

"Okay," the girl coughed a bit. She gestured for Alice to sit down. They ducked under a bush. "Who are you, are you all right?"

"I'm... Alice."

The girl stuck out her hand. "Clementine," she said with a smile. They shook. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah," Alice said.

"You look familiar," Clementine remarked.

"My... my real name's Beth."

"Beth Kane!?"

Alice shushed her.

"Sorry, so you're not dead?"

"Dead?" Alice echoed.

"Yeah they found bones by the farm, and DNA said it was you. It's been all over the news. Your Gotham's most famous, and I've won the World Women's Junior Inline Rollerskating contest three years in a row." Alice couldn't tell if the girl was envious or not. "Seriously, it's everywhere. Even the newspapers. Nothing is ever in the newspaper in this stupid town."

"Oh..." they thought she was dead.

"You don't know? This isn't like some giant scheme or something?"

"No," Alice was shocked.

"Come with me, I was trying to see if Billy's house was out here, but I guess it's not. We can go to the police or your place. They can't say your dead if you're here."

Alice shook her head. 

"Do you want me to tell someone?"

Alice nodded. "Can you call my dad? I'll tell you the number."

Clementine thought for a moment. "There's a phone outside the cafe where I work. I could call them after my shift. Do you want me to go to the police?"

Alice shook her head again. Clementine nodded and smiled.

"I promise I'll help you," she said.

* * *

"We were both young," Alice explained to Kate, "Neither of us knew what to do. I saw her as my kni9ght in shining armour. The white queen come to save me. I never saw that there was a shadow like the on engulfing my just trailing behind her, waiting to catch up. She would come back a few more times, give me a report, ask me what I wanted her to do. She'd ask me to run with her so many times. But I wanted to be saved. I did not see what the two of us could take on my shadow. Or that she was one chasing her. The two of us could have gotten away. The more I think about, the more I realize she was right. The two of us stood a chance. If we'd brought Mouse in, the three of us would have had a definite chance. More than that maybe." 

Alice looked up at Kate. "Is that what you wanted to know? That I had a chance to go but was too scared?" She cocked her head like a bird. "Will this help you sleep at night Kate, knowing it's my fault and not yours?"

"We were all scared children, Alice," Kate said. She meant it. She had been scared. Alice had been terrified. They were all kids but it was still their fault. They all had a chance. They did not take it. And now they were here.

"So what did you want to know all that for?" Alice asked.

For me, Kate wanted to say. She wanted to place the blame somewhere else. Yet there was still nowhere else to place it. "Besides the obvious," she started, "the phone call was concerning. We want to make sure whoever made it is okay."

Alice laughed. "Whoever made that call is not okay." She pouted. "I'm ready to go now. Come by and see me later, I'll be here for a while."

Alice called for the guards. This time, Kate let them take her back to her cell. 


	4. Missing Persons

The next day, Kate was back at her job like nothing was wrong.

"What was going on with the camera?" the man form the day before asked her. 

She shook her head. "Nothing, it was just lost. I found the owner's next-of-kin." It was pretty close to the truth. The lie slid off her lips like skates on ice. She turned back to her dest.

Some hours later, a man came in. 

"Hi," Kate said with a fake smile. "How may I help you?"

He put a picture on the counter. "I'd like to report a missing person," he said. "My wife." He gestured to the picture.

Kate picked it up. It was a headshot of a blonde girl in her late twenties. She had a scar from the bottom of her left ear, across her cheek to the left corner of her mouth, then across her chin. It was faint but visible. She had haunting blue eyes.

"She's been missing for a day or so," the man said, clutching his hat nervously. "She went shopping yesterday morning and she never came back. I don't know where she could have gone."

Kate listened to him intently, nodding and taking down notes. 

"Come with me," she said, standing up. She led him to a private room ion the back. One with cameras. "Take a seat, I need to ask you some questions."

He obliged.

Kate grilled him. First, it was the simple stuff: name, address, children? Then the harder questions: is there a reason why she would have run away, was she unhappy, did she have a lover, was she discontent? All were met with a steady no.

"Look, Mr. Parson," she said. "Your wife hasn't been gone for 24 hours yet. We can't put her as a missing person. And it's possible she just took off. It happens all the time around here."

"But why would she leave me?" he sobbed.

"Only you would know that," she said softly. "If she doesn't come back by tonight, come back. We'll open an investigation. But I want to prepare you for the possibility that you will not like what we find."

"I just want to know what happened to her," he said.

"One more thing before you go," Kate said.

"What?" he asked.

"Where did your wife get that scar?"

"Childhood accident. She tripped and dived into some sharp metal when we were children. She was lucky she didn't slice her face off."

Kate nodded. "I'll put out an alert. Come with me," she said, leading him out of the room. 

She set him up with a secretary who would deal with the paperwork. She waved as he walked out, assuring him they would do everything in they could to find his wife. Then, when her cellphone rang, she answered it.

"Kate Kane?" someone asked.

"yes, who is this?" Kate asked.

"Doctor DuPois, I work at Arkham," the voice on the other side of the line said. "I'm calling to inform you that Alice has escaped."

"What?"

"We are currently review footage to figure out how this is possible. We have already altered your father."

"Uh," she stammered. She hung up. 

Then she threw her phone on the ground. Everyone in the office stared at her. How did Alice escape?

She had to get to Mary. Alice would be livid. No one would be safe. Not form her wrath at Kate's betrayal. She could not run fast enough, not with the bowling ball in her gut reminding her that this was all her fault. That none of this would ever have happened if she had been a better sister.


	5. Hoodwinked

How had Alice escaped? Kate had no idea. This was Arkham. No one was supposed to escape from Arkham. 

Yet people did. All the time. When you put the most messed up minds Gotham has to offer in the same room, they have a tendency to come up with plans no one else would even fathom. 

Somehow, Kate thought Alice would be different. She always thought Alice would be different. The exception. The one person in this whole city who could actually change. She had been wrong. Beth was dead. Kate needed to accept that. 

But she can't. She won't. 

She needed eyes in Arkham. And she knew how to get them.

Kate stood up and went to the Wayne Tower. She needed Luke's help to get into the Arkham security system and view the cameras. Once she knew what happened, she could make a plan. And once she had a plan, she could enact the plan. And then...

Kate did not know what would happen after. It would depend on the plan.

She walked into her office and opened the passage into the Batcave. 

"Luke," she said.

"Hi," he replied. 

Kate made her way to the control table.

"Alice broke out of Arkham," Kate said. Subtlety was not her strong suit.

"What?" Luke asked.

"You heard me," Kate said, gesturing at the computers, "Alice escaped. We need to look at cameras." She had to refrain from wantonly pressing buttons. There was no point in messing up the systems.

"Okay Kate," Luke said. "Deep breaths." He went over to one of the keyboards and in a few seconds brought up the security feed from the camera in front of Alice's cell.

"Start it from this morning," Kate said. 

Luke nodded, pulling it up from the early morning. They huddled around the screen and Luke fast forward through the footage. They could not see the door, as the camera was in a corner, but they had a great view of the hallway in front of the door. Nothing of any interest happened until six when a group of doctors scored a sedated Alice out of her cell. An hour later, the brought her back. Alice was no longer sedated, but she wasn't acting normal. She was thrown back into the cell. No one disturbed her until eight when she was brought some food.

"Nothing is out of the ordinary," Luke said.

"There's still more footage," Kate replied. 

They turned back to the screen. Nothing interesting happened. Luke sped it up. Suddenly, a group of people walked down the hallway. They were dressed like doctors, but something was off.

_"We don't have much time," one of them said as he went over to the cell and started playing with the lock._

_"She's asleep," a second one said._

_"Good," replied the first. He pulled out a tranquillizer. "And she'll stay that way."_

"She didn't escape," Kate muttered.

"She was abducted," Luke finished as the group made it into the cell.

_There was a scuffle, but neither could see what happened. A few minutes later they came out, dragging a bloodied Alice behind them._

_"I hope this works," one of them said._

_"Well, even if it doesn't, we'll have this loon all to ourselves." The man cackled._

_"Someone's going to come for her, now let's gets move on. We don't want to be here went the rest of them get out." They left the camera's view_

Kate swore. She replayed it. Once, then twice. Someone had kidnapped Alice. And let some Arkham residents out in the process. But someone had kidnapped Alice. Why? Alice had been locked up all her life, and she was so focused on getting back on Kaste and her dad, there's no way she would have had the time to make enemies. 

She leaned back against the desk and ran her hands through her hair. She swore again. 

"Kate," Luke started, but he did not know what to say.

"I thought she'd be safe there," Kate said. "Relatively. Safe from herself and from everyone else. Why would someone take her?"

"That's what we are going to find out," Luke said.

There was a shuffling sound. Kate turned back to the screen. Someone was walking down the hallway. It wasn't an inmate. It was a civilian in jeans and a white blouse. A woman. Her head was tilted down and her hair blocking her face. She dropped her composure when she noticed the cell was open, running up to it and looking inside. She quickly looked around and dashed off when she noticed no one was there.

Luke jumped to the keyboard and froze the frame, hoping the get the best look of the face possible. He went through the section, frame by frame, but whoever this woman was, she was good. Her hair was blocking something, somewhere every time. Or it was too blurry.

"I'll get it, Kate," Luke reassured him.

"I know you will," Kate replied.


	6. Captive

Alice's head was pounding when she woke. The world was dark and blurry. Muffled voices talked, their words incomprehensible. People were touching her, grabbing at her, moving her around. They were rough.

Maybe they did not know she was regaining consciousness. Or maybe they did because she felt a prick in her arm and then the world went dark.

She awoke sometime later. It was cold. Metal was pressed against her back and arms. She was in a chair.

She struggled to move her arms. She was strapped down.

"Hey, there," someone said, shining a light in her eyes.

"Wakey-Wakey."

"Who are you?" hissed Alice. 

"Oh Beth," the voice said. A finger ran along her temple to her chin, where the stranger gripped it. "You're so pretty. Pretty sad."

"Who are you?" Alice spat, turning her head and breaking his hold.

"Don't worry yourself with that," he said as something cold was placed on her temple.

Alice stiffened. What were they going to do to her?

"Don't be afraid, little rabbit. I'm not going to hurt you... much. I need that beautiful brain of yours."

"What do you want?"

"Oh I don't want anything," he said, "it's about what you want." Another cold circle was stuck to her other temple. "You want the bat gone. I do too. Together we will burn this city to the ground."

Alice was about to protest, but a gloved hand stifled her.

"Shhh, don't speak. Just relax. It won't be as bad... I think."

He continued to talk, but Alice was starting to see spots. Her ear began to ring as her heart pounded in her ears. She couldn't breathe. She struggled. She needed to get out. She couldn't breathe.

"Calm down, little rabbit," the voice said.

Water was thrown in her face. She froze in shock but found she could breathe again when she finally came back.

"I did not want to do that," he said. 

Happy place, Alice thought, squeezing her eyes shut. Happy place happy place happy place happy place. She wasn't sure if it worked or not. But she was frolicking through fields on nonsense with Mouse and Kate and celebrating unbirthdays.

Nothing disturbed her.

* * *

"I found something!" Luke exclaimed.

"What?" Kate asked, bounding over to the screen.

"The girl who came to the cell after the abduction, I found a match. Or, well, someone who might be a match."

"Who," kate said. "Just cut to the chase, Luke." There was no time for this. Alice was out, she was free. She was either in danger and needed saving, or someone needed saving from her. Someone needed the bat. 

She just needed to know who, and where.

Her phone rang as Luke was bringing up the pictures.

It was her dad.

"Hi," she said.

"Have you heard," he dad said.

"Yes," replied Kate.

"We're doing everything we can to bring her back." Safe, unharmed, without harming anyone else. He did not clarify. 

But she was also starting to see when he'd saw all along. Beth was gone.

"Okay," she said. She did not know what else to say. "Call me when you get news."

"I will," he said. "I love you."

"Yeah," replied Kate. She hung up.

She looked up at the screen. A familiar girl with a scar across her chin stared back.

 _You again,_ Kate thought.

"Who's that?" Kate asked.

"Nicole Parson," Luke said. "It's not a 100% match, it's bare a 50% match." He brought up the picture he was comparing it too. It was the right side of her face, only the smallest bits of the scar visible. "I think that's the same scar, but it could just be the video quality," he said.

"She went missing recently," Kate said.

"Well, not officially, but yes," replied Luke.

"I know who I need to speak to," Kate said.

The only question was who would be speaking to Mr. Parson. Batwoman, or the friendly detective Kate Kane?


	7. The Perfect Village

Kate decided to go as Detective Kane. Besides, she already knew this man as Kate Kane when she had helped to process his report of his wife's disappearance.

The fact that he had reported her meant that he probably did not know what she was up to unless this scheme was bigger than she imagined. Yet that did not mean that he ould not be helpful. Any information she could glean from him would be useful. 

Useful in finding Alice. And possibly his wife.

Kate doubted the man would want to know what his wife was up to. Kate only wanted to know because Alice was involved. Whatever it was, it was dark if it involved her sister's messed up alter ego. 

She drove a Crows car down to the address. Her motorcycle did not seem appropriate. 

The houses were eerily similar, with no car and all painted in the same faded baby blue. She walked up to a house that was no different than the rest and knocked on the door.

"Good morning Mr. Parson," she said when the familiar man answered.

"Is this about my wife?" he asked instantly.

"Yes," replied Kate. "May I come in?"

"Yes, of course!" the man said. He stepped back, allowing Kate to come in.

Kate was quick to notice that there were no signs of electricity, only oil lamps.

Mr. Parson lead her to the living room where they sat down. Kate explained the situation and showed him the pictures she'd gotten from the security footage.

"That's not Nicole," he said blankly.

"How can you be sure?"

"She's not a criminal," he said, "and you said yourself you're not sure who it is. And how do I know you're not faking this? Are you even looking for my wife?"

"Mr. Parson, please calm down. I can assure you that we are still searching for Nicole," Kate said. This is more personal. It has very little to do with the investigation, she thought, though she did not voice it out loud. 

"Get out of my house," he said at once. "Now. I will be calling to report you."

If he reported her, they'd know she was here without authorization. Then they'd start asking questions Kate could not answer.

She got up and left the house without a fuss, being polite all the while. She thanked him for his time.

A crowd had gathered outside the house, people dressed in similar suits. All men, she soon realized, staring at her car.

"Is this about Mrs. Parson?" one of them asked.

"Yes," replied Kate.

"What about her?" asked another.

"I cannot disclose that information," she said solemly.

"She didn't kidnap anyone," said another.

Kate was taken black. "How did you know about that?" No one should know about that, unless... Unless they knew something, were in on something she wasn't.

"Mrs. Parson in a devout believer," said another. "She would never run away. Mr. Pasron doesn't like to admit it," he continued, "but we believe his wife may have been having fertility issues. It is possible that she succumbed to sin in order to free him from his ties to her. Being the Saint's daughter, the miracle, none one would like to think it so."

 _Are they saying that she's dead?_ Kate blinked, unsure of how to respond. And what do they mean by the Saint's daughter?

"Now we'd like to ask you to leave our land," he said. "Without a warrant, you are trespassing. Please do not come back unless you have something that will help us find Mrs. Parson."

Oh she would not be coming back. Kate, that is, would not be coming back. Batwoman, however, would be making her appearance soon.


	8. Clementine Pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dealing with writing serious writer’s block right now. I am working on getting one once a week update schedule for my WIPs, but it may take a few weeks especially now that I am working.

The Red Queen was coming over today. Alice hated her. She hated Alice. The had cleaned and scrubbed the entire house and she and Mouse were dressed in their best when the doorbell rang.

“Go help your grandmother,” they were told.

They did as they were told. Only when they opened the door it was not The Red Queen. It was Clementine, dressed in her world champion sweater and holding a picnic basket. Alice shot her a glare, but she acted like she had not seen it.

“Good morning!” she exclaimed, addressing herself to Mouse. What on earth was she doing? She was going to get herself and Alice killed. “I’m Clementine. I am the Junior Women’s Inline Rollerblading champion and I am raising money for travel to this year’s world championships. I was wondering if you’d be interested in ordering some homemade sweets?” She had the perfect, rehearsed smile as she held up her basket. “I have samples here. I will be making everything fresh within the next few days and have them all delivered while still fresh. It’s all made from my coach’s secret family recipes.”

“Alice, what is going—” he stopped when he saw Clementine. “Who are you?”

Clementine did her whole speak again, this time pulling back the blue plaid cloth over the basket to show him the samples. An amazing smell wafted from it.

He looked from the stranger to his son’s face. “Is this a joke?” he asked.

“No,” she replied.

“To get a good look at my son and laugh at him?”

“No,” she replied again. “I’m lucky that my scars can be hidden by clothes,” she replied. “I have an undiagnosed lung condition and had to have new lungs. I am not laughing at his scars. I’m seriously just raising money to complete in the world championships.” She pulled her collar down a bit to show the start of the scars across her chest.

“Can we try some dad?” Mouse asked in excitement, looking up excitedly.

“You look familiar,” he said to Clementine.

“My father runs the church in the Firnall subdivision,” she replied with her same sweet tone. “Perhaps we’ve met there.”

“Yes, that must be it. Clementine, yes,” he said with an odd tone shift.

Alice wondered if they actually knew each other. What was her plan here? They had one. She was supposed to get the camera and go to the police. That was it. She should not be here. She tried not to let it show how nervous she was. Clementine acted like she had no idea who she was.

“So, are you interested in some home-baked sweets?” she pushed. “It’s for a good cause. I’ll be representing Gotham, and all of America, in the world championships.”

“Please, dad?” Mouse asked. He was so excited. Clementine was not flinching at the sight of his face. She had explained she knew what he felt like. Alice knew he would do anything for Mouse. That is why she was here.

“Sure, why not,” he replied. “Mother might enjoy some sweets. She will be here for a few days. Would it be possible to get out order by Friday?”

“Of course!” Clementine said excitedly. She went into another speech, explaining all the different recipes, apologizing that she was out of a few samples here and there as this was the last house on her rounds today. She said each person could have tree samples and held the basket up, labelling each sample.

With his permission, Alice and Mouse decided which six treats they wanted to try. They were all delicious.

“What is Inline Rollerblading?” he asked while they ate.

“Oh, I have a video,” she said sweetly. “I just got this camera this morning.” Alice nearly chocked. “I was thinking this way I could see what I am doing wrong if I could film myself instead of just my coach telling me my form is poor.”

She pulled a Sony camera out of her bag and handed it to him. He plaid the video. Alice resisted the urge to look. There was some violin music paired with the voice of who she assumed to be Clementine’s coach telling her to keep her chin up and make her triangles cleaner.

“Very interesting,” he replied. “Would you like to come in?” He handed the camera back to the guest.

 _No_ , Alice begged.

“Sure,” Clementine replied.

Mouse pulled her into the kitchen. “We’re about to have tea,” he said. “Do you want some tea?”

They had tea, Alice serving them as Clementine and Mouse talked under his watchful eyes. Alice could not figure out what her game plan was here. This was just too dangerous. Especially if it were just to let her know that she had the camera. Alice would be ready for the police to come in the later weeks. She did not need this long drawn out warning. Clementine could have just come to the window and told her tonight.

The Red Queen came halfway through tea. Clementine was as charming as ever, helping her with her oxygen tank, calling her beautiful and talking to her about different tank brands and such, explain in some detail her experiences with them. For once, she was not attacking Alice. Not with such lovely company. Alice started to wish her friend would not leave.

But eventually, she had to go. They made a large order, everyone enchanted by her basked full of baked goods. She was asked to come by again. Mouse was so glad to have a friend. No mention of Alice needing a friend. Even the Red Queen liked her well enough.

That night when Clementine came to take the pictures, she begged Alice to come and run with her, saying they had a better chance that way. She knew where the safe house was. Mouse could come with them. He knew who she was now so Alice could fetch him and the three of them would have a chance. They could leave the state or not once they went to the safe house. Clementine said she wanted to go to Europe afterward. She had a plan. Her and Mouse could follow her or go their own way. Either way, the three of them could leave.

Alice said no. It was too dangerous. So, Clementine photographed and videotaped her, running away before she got caught.

Two weeks later and no police had come. Then she saw in the newspapers that Clementine was dead. It seemed to strange, yet her friend was so sick. Maybe that had been why she wanted to run. Alice wished she had run. There had been something off with Clementine. He seemed to know her; they mentioned a church. The Red Queen had seemed to know her, or at least know of her. Alice could not help but wonder if she had just let her only chance at freedom go. There was something bigger going on. Something bigger than her and Clementine. And now Clementine was dead.


End file.
